The Incredible And Sad Tale Of Innocent Erendira And Her Heartless Grandmother

In The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the main character Erendira is the definition of a survivor. She had to enter into the world of prostitution because she owed money to her grandmother for a simple accident. It was necessary for her grandmother to be killed in the conclusion of the story so Erendira could escape and start a new life. This just shows that a normal girl can turn into a sex slave literally over a course of a day. And the returning of the character Medea, In Medea written by Euripides, Medea betrayed her own family to be with her lover Jason but Jason shortly betrayed Medea by separating from her and their children. Also, by trying to marry another woman. In result, Medea killed her two children to rid herself of the remembrance of Jason. It was the only way she could get revenge on her past lover. It was the only way to free herself of the horrific memories she has put on herself. This exhibits that even a princess can be swindled. As

Arthur Miller states in the "Tragedy and the Common Man" essay, "I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were." Thus he argues that normal people are capable of having struggles and tragedies that are equal important to the ones kings and queens have. Medea and Erendira both have certain qualities in common; they both think that death would rid them of their problems, they believed the acts of murder would suddenly make them free. In fact, they both did become free after the murder of their betrayers.

In Medea by Euripides, the reader could have predicted the outcome of Medea’s fate or destiny. She killed her brother to distract her father from defending the Golden Fleece, “Then, to buy time during their escape, Medea killed her own brother and tossed the pieces of his corpse behind the Argo as they sailed for Greece.”(Background on Medea) Betraying her family meant there was no going back if things with Jason did not work out. Some would say that it was out of Medea’s control since she was under a love potion or spell, “Medea recalls the magic she worked to help Jason win and keep the Fleece...” But it was completely her choice to kill her children near the conclusion of the play. She understood if Jason married Creon’s daughter the society would make a mockery of her.

In the beginning, Jason used Medea for her insight to her kingdom and the Golden Fleece. He knew she was a sorceress and used that to his advantage, “Medea provided him with an ointment that gave him strength and prevented any injury to him during the feat.” (Euripides) Knowing all that Medea did for Jason, Jason should have been more appreciative and stay with Medea especially because it was unusual for a man to leave his wife and kids for someone else. Medea felt that if she could not have Jason; the lover of her life, the man she gave up everything for, she would find a way to get even with him.

The only way she knew how to get even with Jason was to emotionally scar him by killing their two children. She was hurting on the inside and every time she looked at her children the reader assumes that she saw Jason in their faces. She realized that she needed to start over and if that meant killing the ones she loved then Medea was willing to do the horrific deed for her own happiness at the end of the day.

In The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Erendira, the main character, was emotionally and physically misused by her grandmother.

Owing a debt that the grandmother knew Erendira could never pay off; led to Erendira losing her virginity at the age 14 to try to compensate for the expenses, “When there was no other man left in the village who could pay anything for Erendira’s love, her grandmother put her on a truck to go where the smugglers were.” (7Marquez)Making a young girl of that age prostitute is a big deal in today’s society. During this time, it seemed like it was common to have young girls earn money for losing their virtue, “She began to pay it back that very day, beneath the noise of the rain, when she was taken to the village storekeeper, a skinny and premature widower who was quite well known in the desert for the good price he paid for virginity.”(7

Marquez)

During the course of the short story, Erendira met a young boy by the name of Ulises. He, in deed was her guardian angel. He murdered her grandmother so they could be together at the end. Instead, she ran off to find what really made her happy, “He shouted to her but got no answer. He dragged himself to the entrance to the tent and saw Erendira starting to run along the shore away from the city.”(59Marquez) This proves that Erendira used Ulises to murder her grandmother because she was a coward to do the deed herself.

In Arthur Miller’s essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”, he argues that common people can have the same dilemmas as royalty. This is theory is proven in many ways, such as Medea and Erendira. Medea was a barbarian princess and Erendira was just a normal girl; yet they both had someone that was making their life terrible. They both had a choice between life and death and they both chose death in the end result. Both characters got fed up with the life they were living and chose to begin anew. They both became free physically and emotionally not having their betrayers no longer in their lives.

In conclusion, Erendira and Medea both were liberated after the murder of their enemies. Medea felt relieved not carrying the guilt around with her about killing her brother for Jason. And Erendira definitely felt free not having to prostitute anymore to reimburse her grandmother for the accident that burned down their dwelling.